Internal combustion engines, such as but not limited to, diesel engines, gasoline engines, natural gas engines, and the like may generate power needed to operate industrial mining equipment, earth-moving equipment, locomotives, on-road trucks, off-road trucks, marine vessels, electricity generating equipment, and other such machines and equipment. Engines are composed of many moving parts which may require proper lubrication to function properly. During normal operation, engine fluid such as but not limited to, engine oil may flow or circulate throughout the engine to provide lubrication, cooling, protection against corrosion, or for other such reasons. Additionally, machines configured with internal combustion engines, or other such power generating sources, may often be operated under harsh environmental conditions that include extreme temperatures, dust, moisture, and other such conditions. In certain cases, the harsh environmental conditions may reduce the operational lifetime of engine fluids, thereby reducing time between maintenance intervals and increasing machine downtime. Furthermore, byproducts of the combustion process, such as carbon particles, ash and soot may create additional contamination sources of engine fluids and other machine components.
As a result, to increase the time between maintenance intervals the optimized engine fluids may be used that are configured to better combat the harsh environmental conditions and repel the contamination sources. In some cases, it may be beneficial to monitor the fluid characteristics of the engine fluid during machine maintenance. Therefore, one or more sensors may be incorporated with the engine or other machine system and the one or more sensors may be configured to monitor and collect data related to the engine and/or machine fluid being added to the machine.
However, the engine compartment in some machines may have a limited amount of available space. As a result, it may be difficult to place the sensors in the proper position on the engine so the engine and/or machine fluid can be monitored during machine maintenance procedures. An extension tube, or other such fluid conduit, may be mounted on the engine and configured to provide access for the sensor. Moreover, the extension tube may be configured such that one end of the tube is coupled to the fluid fill port and the opposite end defines a new fill position for the engine and/or machine fluid. One or more sensors may be positioned between the first and second end of the tube and the one or more sensors may be configured to monitor the fluid as is flows through the tube. As a result, it may be desired that the extension tube be sized accordingly to provide enough room for the one or more sensors to be positioned in the tube and that the extension tube may be attached to the engine using the available space within the engine compartment.
A method and apparatus for sealing a cam shaft and providing a shaft speed detection structure is disclosed in Chinese Utility Model Patent No. CN205383003U, (the '003 patent). The sealing method and apparatus disclosed therein includes a cover surrounded by an accommodating space for a cam shaft to extend there through. The cover also includes a sensor mounting portion for mounting the speed sensor. The cover is formed to provide an accommodating space for the cam shaft and the cover is removably attached to a cylinder head of an engine, thereby sealing the interior of the cylinder head. Furthermore, the sensor mounting portion is configured to accommodate the speed sensor being inserted into the mounting portion in order to measure the rotational speed of the cam shaft. As a result, the cover provides a seal for the cam shaft and a structure to mount the speed sensor to continuously detect the rotational speed of the cam shaft.
While the '003 patent shows an apparatus for sealing and detecting a rotational speed of a cam shaft, it fails to disclose an extension tube having one or more sensors for monitoring engine fluid as it is added into an engine or engine fluid reservoir.